FPL News – After Round 18
Week 18 Update
With another round of fixtures behind us, the FPL table has been updated and the transfer window has reopened. It will close again at noon on Saturday so make sure you make your changes and enter your predictions before then. It’s a strange week for fixtures next week, only one game is being played on the Saturday with the other nine in midweek. Therefore there will be a short window of only two days at the end of next week. The next FPL update will be next Thursday morning.
CLICK THE SUBMIT BUTTON – READ THIS
From last week onwards those who do not enter predictions and click the submit button will receive predictions compliments of the randomiser. You can still go with John’s selections, but you need to submit them. In the past those who did not enter any predictions automatically got John’s but that is not the case anymore.
FPL News
We felt that too many of you were relying on John Salako’s expertise and not trusting your own judgement which is why we introduced the new system. Then after all that our resident expert goes and has a mare. It didn’t effect his position in the top ten but a few more weeks like that and he will lose the coveted spot. We are in negotiation to bring in a guest predictor for the next round of matches. I can’t disclose who it will be, but it’s a big one.
Paul Grunstein is still on top but the gap is closing. He will soon be looking over his shoulder as the chasing pack get after him. Mark (Waxy FC) Smith made the biggest move of the week climbing 12 places into 16th after scoring a massive 65 bonus points. Andrew Minnikin did even better than the Wax, his 70 bonus points took him up nine places to 13th.
The title of Loser of the Week has to go to one time FPL leader Paul Burton who has continued his slide down the table, he dropped 12 places to 28th.
www.fpl.org.uk/full_league.php
This Weeks Fixtures
It looks to be an interesting week ahead of us in the Premier League. There are a lot of matches which could go either way which in turn could see some further big movements in the FPL table.
It’s great to see Kevin Keegan back where some would say he belongs, in charge of Newcastle United. I hope he can bring the good times back to the North East but I don’t think it is going to happen overnight. To be honest I don’t see him having a major impact this season, they will or course be safe for another season, but I don’t see them threatening the European places. This week they make the long and difficult trip to the Emirates Stadium and although I think it will be tight, I don’t see anything other than an Arsenal win.
Chelsea entertain Reading which I am calling this weeks certain home banker. And yes you did read that right, in the same sentence where I mentioned Chelsea I used the word banker, not the one you were thinking of.
From here it gets a little more interesting..
Villa impress me every time I watch them. I do believe you heard it in this column a week ago these words “Everything including John points towards a home win but I just have an feeling Villa may not go home empty handed“, when discussing their chances at Anfield. I wonder how many of you picked up bonus points from that game.. Blackburn are almost back on track after a dodgy few weeks, but I see this as another home win.
Whenever a team gets a new manager they seem to get a few wins before normal service is resumed. So what’s happened to Fulham? New manager, same rubbish. I have been at all four of Mr Hodgsons games in charge, including the dismal display against Arsenal on Saturday, and have yet to see us pick up even a point. Admittedly one of the four games was the 2-2 home draw in the Cup against League One giants Bristol Rovers, but at the moment at least nothing has changed.
Bolton were widely critisised for their choice of manager, which surprised me a little as this is the team that previously gave the job to Little Sammy Lee, but Gary Megson has gone about the job quietly and is little by little taking Bolton up the table.
It’s probably best if you all ignore my prediction for this match and go with your own, especially in light of our away record over the past two and a half seasons which is dreadful, but I feel we might get something from the game. I live in hope at least. Draw.
Middlesbrough against Wigan is another tough one to call. Boro have picked up more points on the road than they have at home but Wigan have only one away win so far. I do believe any of the three results are possible in this one, but I am just going to edge on the side of home advantage and go for a narrow win for Boro. Maybe.
Sunderland’s away record is the joint worst in the league this season matched only by Derby. Both teams have picked up just two points from a possible 36. Lucky then they both have home games this week.
Fellow strugglers Birmingham visit the Stadium of Light with only a slightly better away record than the aforementioned. Another tough one to call but again I am going to go with home advantage.
On the other hand, high flying Manchester City are the visitors to Pride Park this week and I think Sven will see this as a must win game. City are far better at home than on the road, but I can see them picking up all three points here. Away win.
Everton against Tottenham would have to be my game of the week. Spurs are another team for whom a new manager has bought a change in fortunes, to be honest they were always better than the lowly position they occupied for the first half of the season and as good as it was for the rest of us to see them down there, it couldn’t last. I do think a European place maybe out of their reach but I can see them finishing in the top half of the table.
Everton on the other hand will now see this season as a failure if they are not playing European football next season. I think they are one of the very best teams in the league at the moment and it would not surprise me in the least to see them finish fourth and win a place in the Champions League.
Spurs will put up a brave fight here and may even get a draw, but I have to go with a home win.
I’m pleased Harry Redknapp didn’t take the Newcastle job. He is a top top man, someone I would love to sit down with for a couple of hours and chat with over a few pints, but I’m not convinced he could do one of the really big jobs. What he has done at Portsmouth is amazing and he will be a hero on the South Coast for as long as there is a football club there. He has the respect of everyone in the game bar none and to my mind has nothing to prove. I would have hated to see him go up there and not be able to deliver.
This week he takes one of the leagues best away records to Old Trafford where the home team have yet to be beaten. In fact they have won 11 of their 12 home games this season. Pompey occasionally capitulate in the big games, but I hope they do them selves justice in this one although I can see only one result. Home win.
Liverpool continue to disappoint. I really do feel for their supporters and they deserve better. I don’t see things improving though this season and as I mentioned earlier, could even see them missing out on the Champions League if they do not improve. If this does happen then Benitez will surely go, if he is not a dead man walking already.
This week they visit the cauldron that is the Boleyn Ground, Upton Park to face West Ham. Did you know that in August 1944, a V-1 flying bomb landed on the south-west corner of the pitch. We were there a couple of weeks ago watching Fulham and Waxy had had a curry the night before and if you didn’t know better you would have though the Germans were back..
I thought I was going to be impressed by The Hammers as their results had been very good in the run up to the match, but I wasn’t really. They only just beat us 2-1 and we really should have taken something from the game. They do seem to raise their games against the bigger teams and there are few bigger than Liverpool.
It’s another one where all three results are possible but I am going to go for a draw.
Salako’s Selections
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Maybe our resident experts mind was still on the scantily clad beauties wandering along the beach as he only managed 25 bonus points for himself and his followers last week. He will need a better showing this time around if he is going to maintain his reputation as a top predictor. Either go with John’s predictions or add your own scores for this round of matches otherwise you will be in the hands on the dreaded randomiser.
Here are this weeks fixtures:
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Make Your Changes / Main Game
To make a change, login to the members area where you will see your table unlocked on the left and the current Premier League table on the right. Click on the first team you want to change (call it team A) and select the team you want it to swap places with (team B) and team A will appear where team B was. Do that twice more then click update and that is your changes made for this week.
*** Once you click the update button there is no going back. If you make a change you can undo it by clicking the Revert Teams button, so long as its before you have done the final update.
** You do not have to make all of your changes at once.
The window will close again just before the next round of matches, so make sure you have made your changes by then. Changes are of course optional, you can make one, two, three or no changes if you choose.
Bonus Game
Once you have updated your table its time to predict the scores of the next round of matches. All the fields will be empty when you first login and there is a button to the right of the page which, if clicked, will populate the fields with John Salako’s predictions. If you don’t want to see his predictions then you don’t need to click this button.
Either way once you have entered your predictions for the matches click the submit button and you are done. Once you have clicked the submit button you cannot make any changes to your predictions.
If you leave the fields empty / have not clicked the submit button before the window closes, your bonus points for the week will be awarded based on Salako’s Selection.
And Finally..
That is it for this weeks FPL News. Remember to click the submit button and enter your predictions. This newsletter is also available online at the FPL blog: http://thefootballpredictionleague.wordpress.com.
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, “My friend is dead! What can I do?”. The operator says “Calm down. I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.” There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says “OK, now what?”
A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: “That’s the ugliest baby that I’ve ever seen. Ugh!” The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: “The driver just insulted me!” The man says: “You go right up there and tell him off – go ahead, I’ll hold your monkey for you.”
Good luck all
Nick
Nick Abear
The Predictor
FPL Admin
nick@fpl.org.uk
FPL News – After Round 17
From this week onwards those who do not enter predictions and click the submit button will receive predictions compliments of the randomiser. You can still go with John’s selections, but you need to submit them. In the past those who did not enter any predictions automatically got John’s but that is not the case anymore.
FPL News – Grunstein Still on Top
After a frantic week on the FPL one thing that hasn’t changed is the leader. Paul Grunstein’s lead now stands at 66 points and some would say he is running away with it. He played the double bonus points game well amassing 80 points which was well above the weeks average. Even Super John Salako from his poolside location on the Med only managed 70 bonus points. Many fared much worse though in what was a very interesting week.
Never one to blow my own trumpet, I do have to day my 100 bonus points was matched only by Cardinal Hyde and I finally feel I am in touching distance of the lead. The Cardinal has made a huge leap up the table over the past few weeks, he was languishing close to the bottom of the Full FPL Table until he decided it was time to make a charge. He is now up to 40th and climbing.
Keeping it in the family, Leon, my ten year old is also on the up, he entered the top 50 four weeks ago and under the expert guidance of his father is now up to 20th.
On the down side, one time leader Paul Burton has lost the plot and slipped down to 16th and early FPL leader and Manager of the Month for September, Steve Burnett has dropped off the pace and is down to 8th.
I spotted John at the local Thomas Cook office this weekend trying to blag another holiday so another week where we will all have to stand on our own two feet could be upon us sooner rather than later..
www.fpl.org.uk/full_league.php
This Weeks Fixtures
Chelsea are still without a number of key players but are in a great position in the league, just on the shoulders of the leaders. Avram (Shrek) Grant will have an easy job making his team talks, it’s just a shame that hardly any of them will be able to understand a word that he is saying. Nethertheless I expect them to keep up the pressure on the big two and take all three points from this one.
Even though we are only just past the half way mark, Blackburn have had a good season. They will continue to pick up points and will finish in the top half. Middlesbrough are hot and cold. Better at home than away, they fall into the bracket where other teams feel they can beat them. I feel Rovers will beat them, it won’t be a great game, a couple of goals, home win.
Fulham are on a magnificent run having thrown away more points from winning positions than any team in the history of the world. We are now comfortably nestled in the relegation zone and escape may have been easier from Alcatraz than it will be from the position we are in. Still we have a new manager and hopefully the only way is up. We thrashed the mighty Arsenal 2-1 in the corresponding fixture last season and I see no reason why we can’t repeat the dose this time around..
Tottenham lost to a last minute goal up at The Stadium of Light at the beginning of the season. They are improving under their new manager and I don’t see Sunderland troubling them. Home win.
Reading versus Manchester United is a tough one. I would have gone for the away win without question other than that John reckons it will be a draw. I have thought long and hard about it but still only see one winner. Away win.
Portsmouth can’t score at home and have lost a good few players to the African Nations Cup. Luckily for them Derby are the visitors. I don’t see this being an easy win like John does who has gone for 3-0, rather I think it will be tighter but still a home win.
Bolton will go to Newcastle looking for an upset. Sometimes you have to “kick a man when he’s down” and Newcastle are certainly that. I really like Newcastle, I think most football fans have a soft spot for them, but they really need to get back on track. I’m not sure Bolton have enough to win this but they could certainly get a draw.
Wigan are improving. John even thinks this will be a draw. I think Everton will be too good for them and will win the game easily. Bob from the pub reckons Wigan will win so basically it’s a lottery. I like Everton, they are hard to beat and can score goals. I scored 100 bonus points last week, I am the daddy, but you make your own minds up.
I was at Upton Park on Saturday and wasn’t blown away by the Hammers. I think they could become one of those teams that perform better on the road than they do at home. Man City have that home record so it could be a close one. John thinks MC will win by the odd goal and this time I would have to agree with him.
Liverpool versus Villa could be the game of the weekend. Before I get hundreds of email pointing out that it is not in fact a weekend game and is in fact being played on Monday, find something better to do! Everything including John points towards a home win but I just have an feeling Villa may not go home empty handed.
Salako’s Selections
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After a week away sunning himself the main man is back in town and keen to repair his reputation as a top predictor. You will need to log into your members area either go with John’s predictions or add your own scores for this round of matches otherwise you will be in the hands on the dreaded randomiser.
Here are this weeks fixtures:
|
To make a change, login to the members area where you will see your table unlocked on the left and the current Premier League table on the right. Click on the first team you want to change (call it team A) and select the team you want it to swap places with (team B) and team A will appear where team B was. Do that twice more then click update and that’s your changes made for this week.
*** Once you click the update button there is no going back. If you make a change you can undo it by clicking the Revert Teams button, so long as it’s before you have done the final update.
** You do not have to make all of your changes at once.
The window will close again just before the next round of matches, so make sure you have made your changes by then. Changes are of course optional, you can make one, two, three or no changes if you choose.
Bonus Game
Once you have updated your table it’s time to predict the scores of the next round of matches. All the fields will be empty when you first login and there is a button to the right of the page which, if clicked, will populate the fields with John Salako’s predictions. If you don’t want to see his predictions then you don’t need to click this button.
Either way once you have entered your predictions for the matches click the submit button and you are done. Once you have clicked the submit button you cannot make any changes to your predictions.
If you leave the fields empty / have not clicked the submit button before the window closes, your bonus points for the week will be awarded based on Salako’s Selection.
That is it for this week’s FPL News. Remember it is a short window this week which will re open next Monday morning. This newsletter is also available online at the FPL blog: http://thefootballpredictionleague.wordpress.com
A British Soldier, whilst on patrol in Bosnia, happens upon a young lad kicking around a spent shell case with not inconsiderable skill. The two end up chatting and the soldier says, “Would you like to play football in England? A great friend of mine knows Alex Ferguson, the man in charge of the top England team. He could help you.” The boy appears very keen and so, when the soldier returns home, he asks his friend.
Well, it turns out that Alex Ferguson is interested and so the young lad is brought over. He starts off in the junior team, but is so good, he gets steadily promoted until he’s on the substitute bench for the first team at the FA Cup final. The game reaches half-time and the score is 2-2. “Alright”, says Ferguson, “let’s see what you can do.” On to the pitch he goes. The lad scores three fantastic goals and the team have a glorious victory.
Afterwards, the lad goes to a ‘phone to call his Dad. “Dad”, he says, “we won the FA Cup final and I scored three goals!” His Dad is non-plussed and replies, “Don’t you give me that! Back here, we’re going through Hell! Your Mother went out for bread this morning and hasn’t been seen since. Your Sister was raped last night, and your brother was beaten up in the street on his way back from school!”
“But Dad,” complains the youth, “you can’t blame me for that!” “I can,” said his father, “it was you that made us move to Manchester!”
Good luck all
Nick
Nick Abear
The Predictor
FPL Admin
nick@fpl.org.uk
FPL News – After Round 16
Week 16 Update
With the Christmas madness behind us, the FPL table has been updated and the transfer window has reopened. It will close again at noon on Saturday so make sure you make your changes / enter your predictions before then.
Double Bonus Points!! – READ THIS
John has packed his suncream and headed down to the Med for a well deserved break. That’s great for him but it means we at the FPL are without our resident expert this week. All players will have to make their own predictions or leave their fate in the hands of the randomiser. To soften the blow we are giving everyone Double Bonus Points.
FPL News – Grunstein Stretches His Lead
As we reach what is just about the halfway stage in the FPL season Paul Grunstein has a comfortable lead at the top of the table. He has been at the top almost since week one and is going to take some catching. He has been leaving his score predictions to John over the past couple of weeks so it will be interesting to see how he does this week.
www.fpl.org.uk/full_league.php
Manager of the Month – December
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1.
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Rob Gallon | Kingswood |
742
|
|
2.
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Paul Grunstein | Paddy Rovers |
740
|
|
3.
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Chris Dacosta | Putney FC |
738
|
|
=
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Jason Smith | Big Man City |
738
|
|
5.
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Leon Abear | V United |
736
|
|
6.
|
Steve Burnett | AFC Kanata |
734
|
|
7.
|
Dave Ambler | Goosecargo |
732
|
|
=
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John Salako | The Cardinals Ma |
732
|
|
9.
|
LK Dons | John Wilson |
730
|
|
10.
|
Andrew Minnikin | Andymin |
728
|
This Weeks Fixtures
Three of the big four are at home this weekend which will probably all be home bankers, but the remaining ties are all very interesting. Villa should be too strong for a Reading side that have not done well on the road this season but are improving and establishing themselves in what looks like a pretty comfortable mid table position. Fulham’s away form is even worse and they look to have a tough trip to Upton Park. Last season this fixture ended in a 3-3 draw but I imagine it will be tighter this time around.
Wigan are improving. They are still very much in the relegation battle and I fully expect them to remain there for the duration of the season, but they do just seem to de going in the right direction. I fancy them to win at Derby on Saturday. It’s a tough call and I could have it completely wrong, but I just have a feeling about this one.
Manchester City go to Goodison after having just secured only their second away win of the season at St James’ Park. I tipped them a few weeks ago to begin what seemed like an inevitable slide down the table but they are still handing on in there. To be honest they have surprised me with just how good they have been. Once again though I am going to back against them and go for an Everton win so the clever money will probably be on City!
Liverpool are once again the most disappointing team in the league. It’s hard enough being a Fulham supporter but I can’t imagine what it must be like following the reds. You keep thinking they will emerge from the shadow of the mighty Man Utd, and it really looked like it might happen earlier in the season, but it didn’t and the best I feel they can do this season is fourth. Which is not good enough. In saying that I feel they will just about have enough to beat Boro although it wouldn’t surprise me if it was a draw.
Like Wigan, Bolton have been improving a little recently, unlike Blackburn though who are in the middle of a poor run. That being said, this is a tough one to call so I am going to squeeze my ample buttocks on to the fence and stay there. Draw.
Pompey have been great on the road, Sunderland have been poor all over. For me they are hanging on to their Premier League status by the skin of their teeth. If things don’t improve they will once again be champions of the Championship at the end of season 2008/09. I want to say it might be a draw, it’s a tough trip from the south coast to the north east, but I still have to go for Pompey.
Salako’s Selections
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John did very well last week for his followers predicting eight of the ten results correctly. Sadly he is away sunning himself on one Costa or other. You will need to log into your members area and add your own scores for this round of matches otherwise you will be in the hands on the dreaded randomiser.
Here are this weeks fixtures:
|
To make a change, login to the members area where you will see your table unlocked on the left and the current Premier League table on the right. Click on the first team you want to change (call it team A) and select the team you want it to swap places with (team B) and team A will appear where team B was. Do that twice more then click update and that’s your changes made for this week.
*** Once you click the update button there is no going back. If you make a change you can undo it by clicking the Revert Teams button, so long as it’s before you have done the final update.
** You do not have to make all of your changes at once.
The window will close again just before the next round of matches, so make sure you have made your changes by then. Changes are of course optional, you can make one, two, three or no changes if you choose.
Bonus Game
Once you have updated your table it’s time to predict the scores of the next round of matches. All the fields will be empty when you first login and there is a button to the right of the page which, if clicked, will populate the fields with John Salako’s predictions. If you don’t want to see his predictions then you don’t need to click this button.
Either way once you have entered your predictions for the matches click the submit button and you are done. Once you have clicked the submit button you cannot make any changes to your predictions.
If you leave the fields empty / have not clicked the submit button before the window closes, your bonus points for the week will be awarded based on Salako’s Selection.
That is it for this week’s FPL News. Remember it is a short window this week which will re open next Monday morning. This newsletter is also available online at the FPL blog: http://thefootballpredictionleague.wordpress.com
Apple Computer announced today that it has developed a computer chip that can store and play music in women’s breast implants. This is considered to be a major breakthrough because women are always complaining about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.
Good luck
Nick
Nick Abear
The Predictor
FPL Admin
nick@fpl.org.uk
FPL News – After Round 14
Week 14 Update
With another round of Premier League matches behind us, the FPL table has been updated and the transfer window has reopened. This newsletter will be shorter than usual because I need to get it out early as we only have a 48 hour window before it closes again for the main Christmas fixtures.www.fpl.org.uk
Inside The FPL Today
- FPL News
- A Little Flutter..
- In The Big League
- Relegation Fodder
- This Weeks Fixtures
- Salako’s Selections
- Make Your Changes
- And Finally..
FPL News – Grunstein Top at ChristmasAfter another solid week Paul Grunstein will be comfortable in his chair perched at the top of the FPL. It looks from below that it could be tough to catch him, but there is still a long way to go and there could possibly still be a surprise or two in store for our leader. Rob Gallon made the biggest move at the top end of the table after scoring a near perfect 196 points on the main game as he entered the top ten for the first time this season.
As predicted our resident expert John Salako messed up his own predictions. While everyone who trusted his judgement had another very good week scoring 50 points, the great man somehow only managed 45. This did make me smile as had he had the full 50 he would have remained in tenth place in the table and knocked me down to 11th. As it is though I am still hanging on to the limelight, for now.
www.fpl.org.uk/full_league.php
A Little Flutter..
Talking of John’s predictions, it pains me a little to admit it knowing the man as I do, but I think we would all have to admit that he does actually know what he is talking about. His predictions have been very good since day one and anyone, like myself, who thinks they know better and are going with their own predictions, have probably gone backwards since the bonus game was introduced at the beginning of December. This had me wondering how he would do against the bookies.This week I put him to the test. In my PaddyPower.com account I bet £1 on each of his exact scores and £2 on each of his result predictions. And I am happy to report that I made a better than 50% profit. My total outlay was £30 and total returns were £46.25. If Derby hadn’t done so well at St James’ Park and Villa had been able to turn their dominance into a goal, it could have been even better.
We had an FPL meeting recently and discussed maybe including some kind of optional betting system within the game for next season. Last week was a tough week and had I bet on those predictions I would probably have lost, but the beauty is that if we did do something like this we could decide that some weeks are just not worth betting on and really go for it on the ones that are.
Something tells me it might be a space worth watching..
In The Big League
It always looked an easier week to predict than last week and so it turned out. Derby, West Ham and Man City spoiled things a little for us, but otherwise we got it pretty much spot on. The big three continued to dominate and are beginning to pull away at the top. Liverpool ended Pompey’s great “road run” in some style, and West Ham had a great result winning at Boro.
Relegation FodderThere was plenty of action in my relegation league this week, Bolton comprehensively put Birmingham away, Reading scraped past Sunderland and Fulham and Wigan shared the points.
|
pld
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
diff
|
pts
|
||
| 1 | Middlesbrough |
7
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
8
|
5
|
+3
|
12
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| 2 | Bolton |
7
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
12
|
5
|
+7
|
11
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| 3 | Birmingham |
7
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
10
|
1
|
-1
|
11
|
| 4 | Reading |
8
|
3
|
2
|
3
|
9
|
12
|
-3
|
11
|
| 5 | Fulham |
7
|
2
|
4
|
1
|
9
|
7
|
+2
|
10
|
| 6 | Sunderland |
7
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
9
|
11
|
-2
|
9
|
| 7 | Wigan |
7
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
10
|
11
|
-1
|
8
|
| 8 | Derby |
5
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
6
|
-4
|
2
|
Interestingly you either have two home games or two away games over this period. We could see some major changes in the table by this time next week. Too many fixtures and too little time to go through them all but this weeks double winners could be Tottenham and Chelsea and two time losers could be Middlesbrough, Derby, Reading and one other who I am not prepared to mention..
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John did well again last week for his followers and I am sure many of you will be jumping on his bandwagon once again this week. Log into your members area and click the “show selections” button to see what he thinks about this round of matches.Here are this weeks fixtures:
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Make Your Changes / Main GameTo make a change, login to the members area where you will see your table unlocked on the left and the current Premier League table on the right. Click on the first team you want to change (call it team A) and select the team you want it to swap places with (team B) and team A will appear where team B was. Do that twice more then click update and that’s your changes made for this week.
*** Once you click the update button there is no going back. If you make a change you can undo it by clicking the Revert Teams button, so long as it’s before you have done the final update.
** You do not have to make all of your changes at once.
The window will close again just before the next round of matches, so make sure you have made your changes by then. Changes are of course optional, you can make one, two, three or no changes if you choose.
Bonus Game
Once you have updated your table it’s time to predict the scores of the next round of matches. All the fields will be empty when you first login and there is a button to the right of the page which, if clicked, will populate the fields with John Salako’s predictions. If you don’t want to see his predictions then you don’t need to click this button.
Either way once you have entered your predictions for the matches click the submit button and you are done. Once you have clicked the submit button you cannot make any changes to your predictions.
If you leave the fields empty / have not clicked the submit button before the window closes, your bonus points for the week will be awarded based on Salako’s Selection.
That is it for this week’s FPL News. Remember it is a short window this week which will re open next Monday morning. This newsletter is also available online at the FPL blog: http://thefootballpredictionleague.wordpress.com
Here’s a little festive something from us at the FPL. Click the link below:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1751569060
Good luck all & Happy Holidays
Nick, John, Lee & Jason
FPL Admin
nick@fpl.org.uk
FPL News – After Round 13
Inside The FPL Today
- FPL News
- In The Big League
- It takes PEDIGREE
- Relegation Fodder
- This Weeks Fixtures
- Salako’s Selections
- And Finally..
FPL News -Grunstein Stretches his lead.
Paul Grunstein has had a pretty good grip on the FPL since day one. He was runner up in the Manager of the Month contest for September and went one better in October. A good finish to December will almost certainly see him take the prize for a second time. He had been nip and tuck with Steve Burnett for the overall lead for quite a few weeks now but over the last two weeks has just pulled away on his own. He has opened up a 24 point lead at the top, the biggest in FPL history. Steve is still there in second place but might need to gample on the bonus section if he is going to re take the lead.
In what was a tough week to predict the scores our resident expert John Salako did pretty well again for his followers. It might have only been 30 points, but in a low scoring week where some didn’t even manage to get to double figures, the safe money was once again with John. Dave Ambler proved though what can be done if you gamble and go with your own predictions. In becoming the top point scorer of the week Dave picked up a massive 60 bonus points to climb six places to seventh. His weekly total of 244 points was more than 20 more than any other player managed. It shows what can happen if you are prepared to gamble on a few results.
www.fpl.org.uk/full_league.php
Thankfully for my flaggin FPL team Arsenal and Man Utd won the big games of the weekend and earned me some bonus points, without them I could have had a very bad time of it. Whenever there are lots of goals in a game the FPL bonuses suffer and the 14 goals that were scored in the two NW derbies on Saturday did no one any favours. I was actually in the North West this weekend and missed (actually I didn’t miss it) seeing my team lose to a last minute Dick Barton penalty and slip inevitably into the bottom three. I feel this coming weekends home match against fellow strugglers Wigan will be Mr Sanchez’s last chance. I for one will be happy to see him go, he has made no friends at Fulham, no one likes him but more about him below in a short piece I have written entitled “It Takes Pedigree”.
There were great wins for Everton who are a team I have bigged up over the last few weeks and Tottenham who now seem to have turned the corner. Middlesbrough made no mistakes in putting Derby away and the only draws were at Birmingham and Sunderland.
It Takes Pedigree
I have recently been speaking to a former player, who shall have to remain nameless for the time being, about the possibility of him going into management. My reasoning being that if he doesn’t give it a go he will always wonder what might have been.
A great player has a gift, sure it’s refined during his career, but without the gift you don’t have the great player. Great managers though are not born that way. The overwhelming majority were players before they were managers and learned most of what they take into management from the people who in turn managed them. When he needed to make something happen Chris Coleman would have thought back to his days under the likes of Keegan and Tigana at Fulham, Coppell at Palace and Dalglish at Blackburn. Roy Keane will be able to call on his experiences with Sir Alex and Brian Clough when he needs to. Coleman was able to take a top job without any previous experience because he has pedigree. Keane will go on to become a great manager for the same reason.
Admittedly this pedigree is not everything, you need to have a bit about you as well, but without it you are on the back foot before you begin.
Lawrie Sanchez does not have any pedigree. He learned his trade under Dave Bassett and Bobby Gould. He did OK with Northern Ireland but club jobs and international jobs are two very different things and should never be confused.
Fulham is a great club with a proud tradition and we deserve better.
There were two games between those in the relegation at the weekend, Birmingham and Reading drew and Boro narrowly beat Derby.
|
pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
diff |
pts |
||
| 1 | Middlesbrough |
7 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
+3 |
12 |
| 2 | Birmingham |
6 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
8 |
+2 |
11 |
| 3 | Fulham |
6 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
6 |
+2 |
9 |
| 4 | Sundarland |
6 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
9 |
-1 |
9 |
| 5 | Bolton |
6 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
5 |
+4 |
8 |
| 6 | Reading |
7 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
11 |
-4 |
8 |
| 7 | Wigan |
6 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
10 |
-1 |
7 |
| 8 | Derby |
5 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
-4 |
2 |
I will keep it brief this week as I feel it is an easier week to predict with home wins dominating.
The North London Derby is always interesting but has been one sided recently with Arsenal doing most of the winning. Spurs are on their way back but I am going for The Gunners. Villa are strong at home and Man City poor on the road so this should be another home banker. Bolton have improved recently and should have too much for Birmingham at The Reebok and Newcastle should have no trouble disposing of Derby at St James’ Park.
I think it will be a tough game at The Cottage but I can see us winning it and Sanchez keeping his job for another week, at least. Despite Pompey’s great away form I fancy Liverpool to turn them over at Anfield and the same goes for Everton at Old Trafford. Reading I feel will beat Sunderland at The Majeski, Chelsea should be able to beat a fading Blackburn at Ewood Park for my only away win of the week, and my only draw will be at Boro as I feel West Ham will get a point.
|
John did well again last week for his followers in what was a tough week to call. Log into your members area and click the “show selections” button to see what he thinks about this round of matches.
Here are this weekends fixtures:
John’s predictions are not in yet but I will post them on the site as soon as I get them. If it is tomorrow I will email you all to let you know they are there. |
That is it for this week’s FPL News. There is no midweek game this week so the window will re open on Monday morning. This newsletter is also available online at the FPL blog: http://thefootballpredictionleague.wordpress.com
Not football related but it did make me laugh..
Superman was feeling bored after a long break of crime fighting & wanted to go out & party so he called Batman to ask if he wanted to go to a club & pick up some girls. Batman said Robin was ill & he had to look after him.
A little disappointed, Superman called Spiderman to see if he fancied a few beers. Spiderman told him he had a date with Catwoman. As a last resort, Superman flew over to Wonderwoman’s apartment to see if she was free. As he landed on her balcony, he saw Wonderwoman naked on the bed with her legs open. Superman thought to himself “I’m faster than a speeding bullet, I could be in there, have sex & out again before she knew what was happening.” So Superman did his super thing in a split second & flies off happily.
Meanwhile on the bed, Wonderwoman said “Did you hear anything?” “No” said the Invisible Man, “But my ass hurts like hell!”
Good luck all
Nick
Nick Abear
The Predictor
FPL Admin
nick@fpl.org.uk
Keywords relating to this article:
Football, Premier League, FA Premiership, Soccer, Fantasy Football, Fantasy League, Football Prediction League, FPL, footballpredictionleague, Football League, Football Game, Online Games, Football Scores, F P L, Football Results, Barclays Premier League.
FPL News – After Round 11
|
Week 11 Update
Do you gamble and make your own selections or stick with the expert ? www.fpl.org.uk/full_league.php Arsenal for me are going from strength to strength. They are great to watch, to a point where I never miss one of their games if they are on TV, which they usually are. Basically I have become a fan. This, of course, is very different to being a supporter. I support Fulham, I always have done and always will. I follow them all over the country despite the fact that we never win. I don’t have a choice in the matter, my father supported Fulham as did his father and his father before him. It’s written into my DNA. But at the moment I am an Arsenal fan too. I like teams that play good football and entertain me and they certainly do that. We go up to Villa every season, we found a rustic old curry house near the ground a few years ago and now look forward to going there before the game. I get a Madras and Waxy gets a Vindaloo and we mix them up which makes it just right. I have in the last couple of weeks been becoming a bit, and I stress just a bit, of a Villa fan. I was starting to think that Martin O’Neil was away with the fairies and not the great manager everyone was saying he is. During the world cup when he was in the studio with Hansen, Lineker and co, some of the things he said didn’t even make sense and you could see the others wondering what he was on! Despite all that and the fact that he didn’t really spend any of Randys hard earned during the summer, not on any really big names anyway, Villa are on a roll and after a season, possibly a few seasons, of struggle, they are right up there. Arsenal took them apart though. It might have only been 1-2 (as predicted by my good self) but it could have been a lot more. Villa looked pretty good, especially in the second half, but Arsenal took the points with ease. A number of the games were fairly easy to predict, Blackburn beating a pretty spineless Newcastle, Liverpools demolition of Bolton and, I suppose, Man Utd’s narrow home win over Fulham. Chelsea and Sunderland almost messed up what should have been comfortable home wins, but just scraped home and then there were the draws at Reading, Portsmouth and Wigan. The one that really got me though was the Tottenham game.. Football & The Chaos TheoryThe example many people associate with the chaos theory is the one about a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon and it causing a tidal wave on the other side of the world. Well personally I’m not buying that, but I do believe in the theory in general. It applies to this email because of an incident that happened during the Spurs v Birmingham game at the weekend. The group of “elite” referees is a small one and you get to know them quickly if you are a season ticket holder in the Premier League. On in particular, Phil Dowd, who took charge of this game is an idiot. I would worry if he took charge of one of my ten year olds school matches, how the powers that be deem him good enough to work at the highest level is beyond me. His sending off of Robbie Keane was a joke compared to some of the tackles we have seen over the past couple of weeks. He actually got the ball before the man. He spoiled what was a really good game of football as it was reaching it’s crechendo and one which Tottenham would have won. They were by far the better side and fully deserved the three points. I have nothing against Birmingham and I really do wish them well under their new manager, the fans at St Andrews have had to put up with first Trevor Francis and then Steve Bruce for what must seem like a lifetime, thankfully for them they have now got someone at the helm who can take them forward. They really got an early Christams present on Sunday though. Where my chaos theory is relevant to this is that decision could have a major effect on things at the end of the season. It could mean another team is relegated as Birmingham are safe by a point, it could mean Tottenham miss out on a European place by a point. It could possibly effect a number of things. It’ll come as no surprise but Spurs have lost their appeal against Keane’s three-match ban for the red card. The decision means they will be without the player for the home match against Manchester City and a difficult match against Portsmouth at Fratton Park. He will also miss the Carling Cup tie against Man City. Not the Sin Bin but maybe a Third Eye This is definitely not the sin bin idea. Rather I suggest that for all red cards, and possibly even second yellows, the player in question leaves the pitch as he would had be been sent off so there is no further stopping of the game. Then a couple of officials look at the replays on TV and help the referee out. If the ref got it right then the player stays off, if not he goes back on, possibly with a yellow card to his name. This should take no more than a minute or two and an injustice like the one we saw on Sunday would be avoided. The only problem I can see with this idea is the referee’s ego. They would have to be able to accept that they are human (well almost!!) and can make mistakes. They are there for the good of the game a not because they want to get noticed enough to have a chance of being on next years I’m a celebrity get me out of here. I agree that using any kind of technology that has the players standing around looking at a big screen waiting for a decision is a no no, but if it can be used and not effect the flow of the game in any way, then we have to use it.
I have mentioned here before that Sunderland have disappointed me this season and despite the fact that Chelsea are about as interesting as my collection of Star Trek, The Next Generation autographs, they will have no trouble turning over the Black cats. Home win. I was at Goodison earlier this year, Good Friday actually, when we led for about a minute before Everton scored four without reply. They are a good side, especially at home and we are not great on the road.. We did OK at Old Trafford on Monday and the lads will take a lot from the fact that we didn’t get hammered, still it will not be easy. COYW. Talking of hammerings, Derby visit the Theatre of Dreams on Saturday and might struggle.. I remember a few years ago United put eight or nine past Ipswich and although I’m not saying there will be a repeat of that scoreline, it could happen. Home win. Newcastle v Birmingham is an interesting game. Big Sam has been under pressure recently and Birmingham will go there believing they can get a result. It could be a draw, but I feel Newcastle have momentum of their side after last nights great performance against Arsenal and will take the points. Home win. Reading are where they are in the table because of their home form but Liverpool have won five out of the seven away games they have played thus far. I fully expect them to make it six. Away win. Blackburn are stuttering after a great start and West Ham looked very good at Chelsea last week. This could be a very good game or like the Everton v Pompey match of last weekend that I had as my match of the day and eventually finished 0-0, could be a damp squid. I honestly think this could go either way, a little chaos could decide it maybe, but I am stuck on the fence and going for a draw. Bolton v Wigan. Both teams have won only twice this season. Wigam beat Boro and Sunderland at home in August and have done nothing since, Bolton have beaten Man Utd and Reading. Wigan have a new manager. It could easily be a draw, but I think the home side will take the points. Home win. Arsenal’s third away day in a week is at the Riverside Stadium. Newcastle did really well last night and could even have won the game. Arsenal were without Fabregas, Flamini and Hleb and I do think they really miss those three in the midfield. Van Persie is also a loss but not as much as the other three. The spirit in the Newcastle team last night got the fans back on their side and they now have an easier run of fixtures. I’m not sure Boro have the class of Newcastle or the manager. Southgate in a newbie and it will be interesting to see how he copes with life at the bottom of the table. I’m not sure if Arsenal will have any of the players that I mentioned above back and three games on the road is tough for any team, but I still feel they will have enough to take the points. Away win. Tottenham minus Robbie Keane host Manchester City this weekend. If Spurs can play the way they did on Sunday and keep all of their players on the pitch that should have more than enough for a Man City side that have made 24 of their 30 points at home. Their only away win was on the opening day of the season at Upton Park. I do think Tottenham are improving under their new manager and am therefore giving them the points. Home win.
“As each of home nations failed to qualify for Euro 2008 next summer is looking pretty bleak. But here at talkSPORT we think we might just have the answer to Save Our Summer.With England blowing their chance, Scotland and Northern Ireland fighting bravely but falling short, and Wales failing to escape their group too, all the home nations are set to be kicking their heels whilst other countries take part in the European Championships.To fill that gaping void left by failure we’ve come up with a plan to bring back the Home Internationals tournament.” Click here to find out more and sign the petition *** Once you click the update button there is no going back. If you make a change you can undo it by clicking the Revert Teams button, so long as it’s before you have done the final update. ** You do not have to make all of your changes at once. The window will close again just before the next round of matches, so make sure you have made your changes by then. Changes are of course optional, you can make one, two, three or no changes if you choose. Bonus Game Once you have updated your table it’s time to predict the scores of the next round of matches. All the fields will be empty when you first login and there is a button to the right of the page which, if clicked, will populate the fields with John Salako’s predictions. If you don’t want to see his predictions then you don’t need to click this button. Either way once you have entered your predictions for the matches click the submit button and you are done. Once you have clicked the submit button you cannot make any changes to your predictions. If you leave the fields empty / have not clicked the submit button before the window closes, your bonus points for the week will be awarded based on Salako’s Selection. That is it for this week’s FPL News. There is no midweek game this week so the window will re open on Monday morning. This newsletter is also available online at the FPL blog: http://thefootballpredictionleague.wordpress.com Apologies for this one but it did make me laugh.. A guy goes to the doctors and says to the doc “there’s something wrong with my arse, it keeps singing glory glory man utd”. The doctor replied “don’t worry its normal, all arse holes sing that”. Good luck all Nick Abear Keywords relating to this article: |
FPL News – After Round Ten
Week Ten Update With an extended round of Premier League matches behind us, the FPL table has been updated and the transfer window has reopened. Due to the midweek game it will be a short window so make your changes before it closes again at lunchtime on Saturday.
Inside The FPL Today
- FPL News
- Manager of the Month – November
- New Features
- In The Big League
- Guest Predictors
- This Weeks Fixtures
- Relegation Fodder
- Salako’s Selections
- International Rescue
- Make Your Changes
- And Finally..
FPL News – It’s Getting Tight at the Top
As everyone eagerly anticipates the arrival of the new bonus game there was one last update of the old FPL table. There was no change in the top three for the second week in a row, but the chasing pack are starting to close in on the leaders. The biggest move of the week in the top ten was from Ian Hall who was joint top point scorer with the ever improving Rob Gallon. His 186 points took him up four places from eighth to fourth and his consistent performances throughout the month mean he is the Manager of the Month for November.
There was a lot of shuffling around in the top 50 without anyone making a major move, anyone other than Rick Fraser who climbed 19 places to 50th. Rick joined the FPL late and is proof that you can miss a few weeks and still get high up in the table.
Manager of the Month – November
|
1. |
Ian Hall | Peoples Champion |
550 |
|
2. |
Paul Burton | Palace Forever |
548 |
|
3. |
Steve Burnett | AFC Kanata |
546 |
|
= |
Robin Hodges | Lasagne FC |
546 |
|
5. |
Rob Gallon | Kingswood |
544 |
|
= |
Pete Joyce | Joyceys Giants |
544 |
|
7. |
Martin Kett | Marty68 |
542 |
|
8. |
Nick Abear | The Predictor |
540 |
|
= |
Paul Grunstein | Paddy Rovers |
540 |
|
10. |
Keith Blyth | Hopefuls |
538 |
www.fpl.org.uk/motm.php
www.fpl.org.uk/full_league.php
The talking is over, the hype is behind us. Today both the new look website and the new bonus feature of the FPL go live. When you visit the Football Prediction League site today it will look a lot different. I hope you agree with me that it’s a lot better. You will also notice when you login to you admin area that the new bonus feature “Salako’s Selections” is there below the main game. It is very straightforward to play the new game, you can either go with John’s “expert” selections or choose your own.
This new feature is going to shake things up at the top of the table and we could be in for an interesting December. There may be one or two bugs in the new system so please bear with us as we iron them out.
As always with new features I am always interested to get any feedback.
After this last round of matches it’s beginning to occur to me that Football is a tough game to predict! I was going to say Everton 7 Sunderland 1 then right at the last minute I changed my mind and went with 2-0. Honest I was. Just like I had a feeling Bolton would beat Man Utd but played it safe and went for 3-0 United.
The shock of the weekend was the Bolton result. Alex Ferguson will know that you are maybe allowed two or three of those in a season if you are going to win the title and having already drawn at home to Reading and then lost at local rivals City, he cannot afford to make anymore mistakes. Arsenal will be six points clear of United if they win their game in hand and are still unbeaten in the league. To make matters worse, if Liverpool win their game in hand they would take over from United in second place.
United don’t have the easiest of December’s either. They make the short trip to Anfield on the 16th and have a tricky home game against Everton a week later. They also visit Upton Park to face an improving West Ham side who have proven to be a bit of a bogey team in the past. Toughest of all though will be the visit of the mighty Fulham to Old Trafford next Monday evening. An almost guaranteed three points for the Londoners..
Arsenal’s December could be even more tricky though. In the league they have to go to Villa, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and Everton and have only two matches at The Emirates Stadium, against Tottenham and Chelsea. Throw into the mix a Champions League game at home to Steaua Bucurest and a Carling Cup Quarter Final up at Blackburn and it will be an interesting month for The Gunners.
Liverpool looked very good in disposing of a poor and fading fast Newcastle United but could be in for a rocky Christmas as rumours of a stand-off Rafa Benitez and the clubs owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett after he launched an attack on their transfer policy. If rumours are to be believed Jose Mourinho is the Americans preffered choice as his replacement. Newcastle and Sam Allardyce seem to have big problems of their own too. Big Sam has yet to be accepted by the Toon Army and his next two games away at Blackburn and at home to Arsenal will not be easy.
Birmingham look to be slipping deeper and deeper into the relegation mire whereas Portsmouth are just going from strength to strength. They have a tricky December when they will face Everton, Villa, Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal and Middlesbrough, but with the threat of relegation a distant memory are only looking upwards.
Everton are a team I really like to watch and with Tim Cahill back to fitness look a real threat to the established big four. Their demolition of Sunderland was a thrashing waiting to happen. Roy Keane and his Black Cats honeymoon period is well and truly over and I think they are in for a very long grey winter.
I would say the same for Gareth Southgate and his Middlesbrough team. Under Southgate they have not won for nearly three months and, on the evidence of this poor defeat by Aston Villa, a relegation struggle is inevitable. In December they travel to Reading, Birmingham, Derby and Portsmouth as well as welcoming Arsenal and West Ham to the Riverside. This will be a make or break month for Southgate who has a loyal chairman, but even that loyalty will only go so far.
Derby County have parted company with their manager Billy Davies. The Scots departure was predicted by many after the club were beaten at home by Chelsea on Sunday and remain rooted to the foot of the table. There were rumours that newly unemployed Steve McClaren, who made 25 appearances for The Rams during the mid to late eighties, could make a swift return to management in a bid to rescue Derby from disaster, but the board came to their senses just in the nick of time and brought in Paul Jewell.
Manchester City’s great run continued thanks to a last minute winner from Stephen Ireland. Their home form has been fantasic and there is no reason why it can’t continue through December as they entertain Bolton, Spurs and Blackburn during the festive month. Their away form hasn’t been as good but that could all change this coming weekend as they make the short trip to Wigan. Reading have a make or break month as they mainly face teams close to them in the table. Other than entertaining Liverpool on the 8th, they welcome Middlesbrough and Sunderland to The Majeski and travel to Birmingham, West Ham and Tottenham.
Talking of West Ham and Tottenham, their match on Sunday could have gone either way but as you can see from the predictions below most of us correctly went for the draw. Spurs will start climbing the table soon and with home games in December against Birmingham, Man City, Fulham and Reading who between the four of them have won only twice on the road this season it could be sooner rather than later. The Hammers have a more difficult December which includes trips to Chelsea, Blackburn and Middlesbrough as well as home games against Everton, Reading and Man Utd. Still I see enough points there for them to keep their good start to the season going.
I was at a chilly Craven Cottage on Sunday to see Fulham lose the lead twice to Mark Hughes’ dogged Blackburn team. It was a slow first 45 minutes and didn’t really get going until after the break. We are doing enough to keep our noses clear of the bottom three at the moment, but December could be tricky with trips to Man Utd, Everton, Tottenham and Birmingham and our away record is not exactly great. We have only two home games during the month against Newcastle and Wigan and will need to take maximum points from those games to stay clear of the bottom three. Blackburn have a busy month with home games against Newcastle, West Ham, Arsenal and Chelsea as well as trips to Wigan, Man City and Derby. They should be able to get enough from thses fixtures to keep themselves in the top seven or eight.
Villa recorded a massive win last night at Ewood Park which would have left the home fans with a very bitter taste in their mouths as they made their way home. The result flattered Villa a little, the third and fourth goals went in when Rovers were down to ten men and chasing the game. Nethertheless it is a big win for Villa which lifts them up to sixth in the table, level on points with Liverpool and ends an excellent week for them after having scored 7 without conceding in two important away games. They will be in the perfect mood for the visit of Arsenal on Saturday. Blackburn’s home match against Newcastle on Saturday now takes on extra significance, they have stuttered over the last couple of weeks having only picked up two of a possible 12 points since the beginning of November.
How Did the Guest Predictors do ?
November’s Manager of the Month Ian Hall is clearly the man in form at the moment. 65 points out of a possible 110 is an excellent return and way better than anyone else who took part. It showed too because as I mentioned at the top of the page, Ian was joint top scorer this week with 186 out of a possible 200 points. He’s up to fourth and if he keeps this up over the next few weeks he could move even further up the table. The two leaders, Steve Burnett and Paul Grunstein also did pretty well scoring 45 and 40 points respectively. Bringing up the rear was Andy da Costa, Paul Burton and sadly myself. I’ll go and put the kettle on then..
Below are the weekends results with our predictions alongside:
|
Res |
SB |
PG |
AdC |
PB |
IH |
NA |
||||
|
Arsenal |
2-0 |
3-0 |
3-0 |
3-0 |
3-0 |
2-0 |
4-0 |
Wigan Athletic | ||
|
Birmingham City |
0-2 |
1-2 |
1-2 |
1-3 |
1-1 |
0-1 |
2-2 |
Portsmouth | ||
|
Bolton Wanderers |
1-0 |
1-3 |
0-2 |
0-4 |
0-2 |
0-2 |
0-3 |
Manchester United | ||
|
Derby County |
0-2 |
0-2 |
0-3 |
0-3 |
0-2 |
0-2 |
0-4 |
Chelsea | ||
|
Everton |
7-1 |
1-0 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
2-0 |
2-0 |
2-0 |
Sunderland | ||
|
Manchester City |
2-1 |
2-1 |
2-0 |
2-2 |
2-0 |
1-0 |
4-1 |
Reading | ||
|
Middlesbrough |
0-3 |
1-1 |
1-1 |
1-0 |
1-1 |
1-2 |
1-2 |
Aston Villa | ||
|
Newcastle United |
0-3 |
1-1 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
1-2 |
1-2 |
1-1 |
Liverpool | ||
|
Fulham |
2-2 |
2-2 |
1-2 |
2-2 |
1-1 |
1-1 |
2-1 |
Blackburn Rovers | ||
|
West Ham United |
1-1 |
2-3 |
1-1 |
3-3 |
1-2 |
1-1 |
1-1 |
Tottenham Hotspur | ||
|
Blackburn Rovers |
0-4 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
2-1 |
2-0 |
1-2 |
2-0 |
Aston Villa | ||
|
Results: |
110 |
45 |
40 |
35 |
35 |
65 |
35 |
This is a new section I will featuring each week in the FPL Update email. It is a mini-league table of the eight teams at the bottom of the Premier League that I believe will be battling it out for the three places that are up for grabs in the Championship next season. It only counts matches played between the teams involved. Below is the table up to the end of November.
|
pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
diff |
pts |
||
| 1 | Birmingham |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
7 |
2 |
10 |
|
2 |
Fulham |
6 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
6 |
2 |
9 |
|
3 |
Middlesbrough |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
|
4 |
Wigan |
5 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
6 |
2 |
7 |
|
5 |
Sunderland |
5 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
9 |
-2 |
6 |
|
6 |
Reading |
5 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
9 |
-4 |
6 |
|
7 |
Bolton |
5 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
|
8 |
Derby |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
-2 |
2 |
This is another tough week to predict. At least now I won’t be alone. You all will be able to have a go unless you choose to leave your fate in the hands of John Salako. Here is my summary of the games, mine and John’s predictions are below.
Arsenal have three Premier League away games in the space of a week which will be a real test even for the mighty Gooners. They rested players for the trip to Seville this week and lost the match. I did think they were a little unlucky, but they lost all the same. They should be back to full strength on Saturday for the trip to Villa Park. The Villa fans have yet to witness a home draw this season and they have already seen their side dispose of Chelsea, Everton and West Ham. Manchester United went there and won easily and Liverpool scored a last gasp winner on the opening day of the season. A tough one to call, Villa are improving as the season unfolds and I feel the teams might just share the points. Score draw.
It sometimes seems like Newcastle are never going to get it right. Other than their near neighbours in the North East I think that a lot of people would like them to do well. Kevin Keegan’s team in the nineties were amazing and they should have gone on from there to be a major force in the Premier League, but for whatever reason it hasn’t happened. This weekend they face a trip to Blackburn who have become a very difficult team to beat. Manchester United, Portsmouth and last night Villa have managed to win at Exood Park this season but I don’t see Newcastle getting anything from this game. Home win.
West Ham have won three times on the road this season and on each occaision have kept a clean sheet. It’s a little all or nothing with them at the moment. Chelsea are unbeaten at home so far and on this occaision I think it will be nothing rather than all. Home win.
There is a real clash of the Champions League wannabes at Fratton park on Saturday as Portsmouth entertain Everton. There are a few decent fixtures this weekend but this is my choice for Match of the Day. Pompey are unbeaten at home so far but they have had four draws and only two wins. Everton on the other hand have had three wins, three defeats and a draw on the road. Both teams have scored seven goals in a match this season but I think this one could be a little tighter. I am going to disagree with John here and go for a draw.
Middlesbrough make the long trip south to the Majeski Stadium to face a Reading side who have conceded 31 goals in 14 league games this season. They have though won four of their seven home games and conceded only two goals in doing so. Boro have only scored four times in seven away games so I have to say I am leaning towards the home side, just. It could easily though be one of those nil-nil draws that leaves you wondering why you bothered to get out of you bed that morning. Home win.
Sunderland host Derby who are not going to improve enough to stay up even under the expert guidance of Paul Jewell. He has been linked with a number of jobs recently and I always thought he was a charismatic man who did a great job a Wigan and who would go on manage a bigger club. For this reason I’m a little surprised he took the Derby job. I like Derby, I enjoy going there and wish them well, but I think they came up too early, weren’t ready to come back into the Premier League and were always going to struggle. If they do go down though they will be a force next season in the Championship and I would expect to see them back in the big league and better prepared, soon after. Sunderland haven’t managed to win a game since the 15th September. I thought, hoped even, that they were going to be the epitome of Roy Keane, hard to beat, nasty, tough with a bit of class to boot, but they are anything but. Maybe Roy is just Niall Quinn’s puppet and the Irishman is pulling is strings because just like the big man Sunderland seem to fall over a little too easily. Home win.
The managerial merry go round has been in full flow this week and Steve Bruce has taken a step towards his roots in the far north by moving from Birmingham City to Wigan Athletic. Now where I expected great things from Mr Keane, I have always wondered if Mr Bruce knows the difference between his arse and his elbow. I have watched him get Birmingham relegated, hang on to his job by the skin of his teeth, bring them back up again only for them to struggle all over again. I think he had to go otherwise the Blues would have been heading south. They are a big club in a big city with a proud tradition and should be doing better than they are.
Wigan on the other hand looks to be the perfect job for the big defender. They have won only twice and lost three times at home so far this season. They have not won a game since way back on the 18th August, they have lost their last eight in a row and have a goal record of having scored three and conceded 20 during this period. You would imagine confidence would be a little low going into this weekends home fixture against Sven’s high flying Manchester City. Okay, City’s away record this season is poor compared to their perfect home form but again I am going to disagree with Mr Salako because I think the will be no Brucie Bonus this weekend and City will turn them over. Away win.
Bolton did very well to beat Man Utd last weekend and I have said before that I feel they will be well clear of the bottom three come the end of the season. Whether Gary Megson is the man to take them forward I’m not sure, but there are certainly three worse teams in the Premier League this season. They will, I’m sure, take their hard man tactics to Anfield this weekend confident of getting another positive result and it could be tighter than Mr Salako suggests, I saw Fulham hold Liverpool at 0-0 for 84 minutes a couple of weeks ago so I know it can be done, but I think the Reds will prevail in the end. Home win.
The Renaissance of Tottenham has begun. Their dreadful start to the season was for many of us a little extra light as the nights were closing in, but I can tell you now that it’s over. They will not win anything this season and certainly not a European place (well Intertoto maybe), but for those who feared they might have been in the bottom three at Christmas, worry no more, it will be Okay. They have won only two, yes two of their 14 league games this season, which for a team who seriously talked up their chances before the campaign begun, is a desperate return. They welcome Birmingham to White Hart Lane who have just tempted Alex Mcleish from his post as Scotland manager to the Midlands. I do think the scot could do well if given time. This however is too soon. Home win.
As you know, as any loyal fan will know, it’s difficult if not impossible to pull against your own team. Admittedly it is unlikely Fulham will come back with much to show from their trip to Old Trafford on Monday night but who knows? We did it a couple of seasons ago. Remember, stranger things have happened. I’m not overjoyed with Mr Salako’s prediction and have told him as much. I mentioned earlier that Liverpool couldn’t break us down until the 84th minute at Anfield. We led at the Emirates Stadium until the 84th minute (a pattern maybe) and really should have won at Stamford Bridge at the end of September, Chelsea only just held on for a 0-0. So we usually give the big boys a game. I attended the aforementioned matches this season but sadly cannot get up to Old Trafford on Monday. I’m hoping I won’t be missed.. Home win but don’t hold your breath.
There is another midweek catch up game this week as Arsenal’s visit to St James’ Park. John thinks it is going to be a score draw but I have the feeling that Mr Wenger is more interested in the Premier League this season than he is in anything else. The Champions League can, like any cup competition, become a bit of a lottery once you reach the knock out stages and although he would love to hold up the cup affectionately known as “the big-ears cup”, I do think his main ambitions are at home. This game is, as I mentioned earlier, the second of three consecutive away games for the Gunners with a trip to Middlesbrough to to look forward to next Saturday. If he is going to rest some of his big players I feel it might be for that one rather than this. For that reason I am heaping more pressure on Big Sam as I have predicted back to back defeats for the Toon Army this week. There is a light at the end of the Geordie tunnel though as following this game their next four matches are against teams in the bottom half of the table. Away win
Salako’s Selections / Guest Predictors
|
To add further interest to the new bonus game John has spoken to a number of his colleagues at Sky Sports who have agreed to become guest predictors. Tony Cottee, Tony Gale, Matt Le Tissier and Paul Merson have all agreed to give it a go. John will see out 2007 before we get the others involved in the new year. John’s predictions are the default scores in your admin area and you can choose to go with his choices or make your own.Below are John’s predictions alongside mine: |
|
JS |
NA |
||||
|
Aston Villa |
1-2 |
1-1 |
Arsenal | ||
|
Blackburn Rovers |
1-0 |
2-0 |
Newcastle United | ||
|
Chelsea |
2-0 |
2-0 |
West Ham United | ||
|
Portsmouth |
1-0 |
1-1 |
Everton | ||
|
Reading |
2-1 |
2-0 |
Middlesbrough | ||
|
Sunderland |
2-0 |
3-1 |
Derby County | ||
|
Wigan Athletic |
1-1 |
0-2 |
Manchester City | ||
|
Liverpool |
3-0 |
2-0 |
Bolton Wanderers | ||
|
Tottenham Hotspur |
2-0 |
3-0 |
Birmingham City | ||
|
Manchester United |
4-0 |
2-3 |
Fulham | ||
|
Newcastle United |
2-2 |
0-2 |
Arsenal |
International RescueI like everyone else was disappointed with the International results at the weekend. I’ll probably watch some of the games next summer but will in truth have little interest in the tournament. TalkSport are putting together a petition to bring back the Home Internationals.
“As each of home nations failed to qualify for Euro 2008 next summer is looking pretty bleak. But here at talkSPORT we think we might just have the answer to Save Our Summer.With England blowing their chance, Scotland and Northern Ireland fighting bravely but falling short, and Wales failing to escape their group too, all the home nations are set to be kicking their heels whilst other countries take part in the European Championships.
To fill that gaping void left by failure we’ve come up with a plan to bring back the Home Internationals tournament.”
Click here to find out more and sign the petition
Make Your Changes / Main Game
To make a change, login to the members area where you will see your table unlocked on the left and the current Premier League table on the right. Click on the first team you want to change (call it team A) and select the team you want it to swap places with (team B) and team A will appear where team B was. Do that twice more then click update and that’s your changes made for this week.
*** Once you click the update button there is no going back. If you make a change you can undo it by clicking the Revert Teams button, so long as it’s before you have done the final update.
** You do not have to make all of your changes at once.
The window will close again just before the next round of matches, so make sure you have made your changes by then. Changes are of course optional, you can make one, two, three or no changes if you choose.
Bonus Game
Once you have updated your table it’s time to predict the scores of the next round of matches. All the fields will be empty when you first login and there is a button to the right of the page which, if clicked, will populate the fields with John Salako’s predictions. If you don’t want to see his predictions then you don’t need to click this button.
Either way once you have entered your predictions for the matches click the submit button and you are done. Once you have clicked the submit button you cannot make any changes to your predictions.
If you leave the fields empty / have not clicked the submit button before the window closes, your bonus points for the week will be awarded based on Salako’s Selection.
That is it for this week’s epic FPL News. There is another midweek game next Wednesday so as with this week the window will not open until Thursday morning. We are a small team and are attempting to make some major changes to the program this week so apologies if it takes us a little while to get it just right. Hopefully the new features will enhance the FPL and make it better for everyone.
This newsletter is also available online at the FPL blog: http://thefootballpredictionleague.wordpress.com
Dennis Wise was recently quizzed by police about an alleged, unprovoked attack on a pregnant woman. When asked why he attacked the woman, he replied: “I didn’t realise that she was pregnant, I thought that it was a 50-50 ball that she had up her jumper!!!”
How many Manchester Utd. fans does it take to change a light bulb? Three. One to change the bulb, one to buy the “1997 lightbulb changing” commemorative T-shirt and video, and one to drive the other two back to Torquay.
Good luck all
Nick
Nick Abear
The Predictor
FPL Admin
nick@fpl.org.uk
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Football, Premier League, FA Premiership, Soccer, Fantasy Football, Fantasy League, Football Prediction League, FPL, footballpredictionleague, Football League, Football Game, Online Games, Football Scores, F P L, Football Results, Barclays Premier League.
FPL News – Week Nine Extra
Week Nine Extra
As Promised here’s an update on all things FPL and also a reminder to those who have still not made their changes that due to the international break the window will remain open right up until 12.00pm on Saturday 24th November.
FPL News
Things are moving fast at FPL Towers, there could be some big news coming over the next few weeks regarding next season but that will have to remain firmly under my hat for the moment. What I can tell you is that the FPL site itself is currently getting a facelift and will be unveiled next Thursday when the window opens. We will also be announcing the November Manager of the Month next week in the Week Ten email and on the website.
New Features
The new bonus section “predict the scores” will be live in time for when the window re-opens next Thursday. We are also adding a clever little bit of programming that will allow members to see the most popular scores predicted by the other members. Not an average as someone could enter 9-0 for every score and mess up the averages, rather it will show the most popular choices. For instance if more people go for 2-0 for any particular match, it will reflect that.
Celebrity FPLer John Salako has joined the team on a full time basis and will predict the scores each week in the new area we have called “Salako’s Selections”. You of course can either go with some or all of John’s picks or make your own.
As always with new features I am always interested to get any feedback.
Guest Predictors
I will try and keep the Guest Predictors section of this email going once we are all predicting scores. John’s predictions will as I say appear in your members area each week, but it’s always interesting to see what the leaders are thinking too. If any regular player wants to appear as a guest predictor email me to let me know you want to do it and I will include you somewhere. If I don’t get enough volunteers I might come looking for you so be ready.
A couple more people have joined me on the prediction bench this week to make it a big one before the new feature goes live. As well as leaders Steve Burnett and Paul Grunstein, sixth placed FPLer Andy da Costa has made his choices and I have also managed to get third placed FPLer Paul Burton and eighth placed Ian Hall to throw their hats into the ring.
The result of this little battle will be published next week..
Here are their predictions alongside mine.
|
SB |
PG |
AdC |
PB |
IH |
NA |
||||
|
Arsenal |
3-0 |
3-0 |
3-0 |
3-0 |
2-0 |
4-0 |
Wigan Athletic | ||
|
Birmingham City |
1-2 |
1-2 |
1-3 |
1-1 |
0-1 |
2-2 |
Portsmouth | ||
|
Bolton Wanderers |
1-3 |
0-2 |
0-4 |
0-2 |
0-2 |
0-3 |
Manchester United | ||
|
Derby County |
0-2 |
0-3 |
0-3 |
0-2 |
0-2 |
0-4 |
Chelsea | ||
|
Everton |
1-0 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
2-0 |
2-0 |
2-0 |
Sunderland | ||
|
Manchester City |
2-1 |
2-0 |
2-2 |
2-0 |
1-0 |
4-1 |
Reading | ||
|
Middlesbrough |
1-1 |
1-1 |
1-0 |
1-1 |
1-2 |
1-2 |
Aston Villa | ||
|
Newcastle United |
1-1 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
1-2 |
1-2 |
1-1 |
Liverpool | ||
|
Fulham |
2-2 |
1-2 |
2-2 |
1-1 |
1-1 |
2-1 |
Blackburn Rovers | ||
|
West Ham United |
2-3 |
1-1 |
3-3 |
1-2 |
1-1 |
1-1 |
Tottenham Hotspur | ||
|
Blackburn Rovers |
2-0 |
2-1 |
2-1 |
2-0 |
1-2 |
2-0 |
Aston Villa |
Make Your Changes
To make a change, login to the FPL members area where you will see your table unlocked on the left and the current Premier League table on the right. Click on the first team you want to change (call it team A) and select the team you want it to swap places with (team B) and team A will appear where team B was. Do that twice more then click update and that’s your changes made for the week.
*** Once you click the update button there is no going back. If you make a change you can undo it by clicking the “Revert Teams” button, so long as it’s before you have done the final update.
** You do not have to make all of your changes at once.
The window will close again just before the next round of matches, so make sure you have made your changes by then. Changes are of course optional, you can make one, two, three or no changes if you choose.
And Finally..
That’s it for this brief but hopefully insipring FPL News Extra. There is a midweek game next Wednesday so the next window will be a very short (two day) one. I will try and send out the Week Ten Update email as early as possible on Thursday morning.
Good luck to everyone going to watch their teams at the weekend and especially to England tonight who, if you’re asking me, will qualify comfortably. It was sad to see Scotland miss out after getting so close and I’m still hopeful that Sweden will fall over and my boy David Healy will put three past the Spanish and win an unlikely spot at the Euros for Northern ireland.
This newsletter is also available online at the FPL blog: http://thefootballpredictionleague.wordpress.com
Good luck all
Nick
Nick Abear
The Predictor
FPL Admin
nick@fpl.org.uk
FPL News – After Round Nine
Week Nine Update
With another round of Premier League matches behind us, the FPL table has been updated and the transfer window has re-opened. And due to the international break the window will remain open right up until 12.00pm on Saturday 24th November.
FPL News
After spending the last month at the top of the FPL, Paul Grunstein has finally been knocked off his perch and replaced by September’s manager of the month Steve Burnett. Paul Burton has strengthened his position in third place following a massive week where he amassed 188 points, but it is still very tight in the top ten..
www.fpl.org.uk/full_league.php
New Features
After much debate the new “predict the scores” feature will go live on the 1st December. We have an international break ahead of us and then one more round of matches before it begins. The way it will work is you will now be asked not only to predict the league table but also to predict the scores of the upcoming matches. The scoring will remain the same for the table predictions but you will now get bonus points for predicting the scores. Ten points will be awarded if you get the score exactly right and five points if you get the result right.
Celebrity FPLer John Salako has joined the team and will predict the scores each week in the new “Salako’s Selections” area and it will be your choice whether you go with John’s picks or whether you make your own.
No further news on the FPL FA Cup competition. It will go ahead from the third round onwards if everything goes as planned here at FPL Towers. It will definately feature in next season’s FPL.
As always with new features I am always interested to get any feedback.
In The Big League
If my predictions won me a little money at the bookies a week ago I certainly gave it back this week. It just goes to show how difficult getting the results right, let alone the scores, can be. Third placed predictor Paul Burton joined me on the prediction bench for last weeks matches and he did pretty well. Two correct scores and four correct results from the ten matches played meant he scored 40 points to my 25.
I made the long trip to Anfield on Saturday to see if the mighty whites could make history by beating Liverpool at home for the first time EVER, sadly we are going to have to wait another year as we went down to two late goals. It should have been one though as that trip was way outside the box.. It was the late game of the day so we stayed overnight and as always were well looked after by the good people of Merseyside. It was always going to be tough for us up there especially after their 8-0 win in midweek, we did OK, the fans were outstanding and never stopped singing even when the goals went in.
The shock result for me was Derby losing 0-5 at home to West Ham. No critisism of the Hammers who did a great job on the day, but just because of how terrible, how really dreadful Derby were. The players seemed to just give up once they went 0-2 down and I am disappointed that they seem to be resigned to relegation already. I have been up to Derby a number of times and they are proud fans and a club with a great history. They were founder members of The Football League when it was launched in 1888 and have twice been champions of England. Brian Clough might just be turning in his grave.
A late equaliser at the Bridge for Tim Cahill earned Everton an unlikely point and further scuppered Chelsea’s title hopes. That along with Pompey’s failure to beat Man City at home were probably the two results that cost us FPLer’s the most points this week. They certainly did for me.
There were no other big surprises, Villa winning at St Andrews was a great result.
Below are the weekends results with our predictions alongside:
|
Result |
PB |
NA |
||||
|
Derby County |
0-5 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
West Ham United | ||
|
Liverpool |
2-0 |
3-0 |
2-1 |
Fulham | ||
|
Sunderland |
1-1 |
1-1 |
1-2 |
Newcastle United | ||
|
Tottenham Hotspur |
4-0 |
3-0 |
4-2 |
Wigan Athletic | ||
|
Portsmouth |
0-0 |
2-1 |
2-1 |
Manchester City | ||
|
Manchester United |
2-0 |
2-0 |
2-0 |
Blackburn Rovers | ||
|
Chelsea |
1-1 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
Everton | ||
|
Bolton Wanderers |
0-0 |
1-0 |
2-0 |
Middlesbrough | ||
|
Birmingham City |
1-2 |
1-1 |
1-0 |
Aston Villa | ||
|
Reading |
1-3 |
0-3 |
1-4 |
Arsenal |
This Weeks Fixtures
I actually think that the forthcoming matches are easier to predict than the ones that have just gone. Arsenal will have no trouble disposing of Wigan, it’s just going to be a matter of how many. Am I the only person who though Cesc Fabregas delibrately got him self booked last night so that the game he misses would be the Wigan one? Smart move or not in the spirit of the game? Man Utd should have almost as easy a task at the Reebok Stadium and Chelsea will get back to winning ways against the aforementioned Derby County.
Portsmouth should have beaten Man City at the weekend, for my FPL team if for no other reason! They had enough chances but City did well and have now put the memory of Chelsea’s half a dozen well behind them. Despite having already won four out of the seven away games they have played so far this season I think Birmingham can hold them to a score draw. City on the other hand should have too much for a Reading team who cannot defend and I feel will win easily. Reading have picked up only one point on their travels so far this season and City are seven for seven at home. Home win.
Only Liverpool and Man Utd have managed to win at Goodison Park this season and I don’t see Sunderland changing that. They have not managed a win on the road so far this season and I feel that wait will continue. Home win.
Villa’s win at local rivals Birmingham will give them great confidence and although that was only their first win on their travels I feel they can go to Middlesborough and win. It will be close and could finish in a draw, but I have a feeling Villa might just nick it.
I can’t back against Fulham at home to Blackburn despite the fact that they always seem to take something away with them. We were actually promoted in the same season as Rovers but they have had by far the better of it since coming up. Of the six matches played at Craven Cottage (and Loftus Road) since both teams came up Blackburn have won three times, Fulham twice and one game finished in a draw. They have scored 12 goals during that period compared to our eight and have only failed to score once. Still I am backing the whites to win, narrowly.
Newcastle against Liverpool and West Ham against Spurs are the toughest matches to call and could go anyway. My instinct tells me Liverpool and West Ham but I am going to sit on the fence and go for score draws in both matches.
There is a midweek fixture following the next round of matches and we are going to include it in this update as it does seem the most logical way to do it and also because it will be the last game in November so will count towards the manager of the month. Therefore the next update of the FPL table will not happen until Thursday 29th November and the window will be a smaller one than usual, just two days. The match in question is Blackburn against Villa. I think three away games on the spin will prove too much for Villa and Rovers will bounce back from their defeat at the Cottage a few days earlier to take maximum points. Home Win.
Guest Predictors
As there is only one more round of matches before you all get involved in predicting the scores I have as promised asked the two leaders of the FPL to join me on the prediction bench this week. Also throwing his hat into the ring is sixth placed FPLer Andy da Costa. I would like to say a big thank you to Steve, Paul and Andy for taking the time to do this and putting their reputations on the line.. The top two have dominated the FPL this season and at the moment are in a two horse race. Here are their predictions alongside mine.
|
SB |
PG |
AdC |
NA |
||||
|
Arsenal |
3-0 |
3-0 |
3-0 |
4-0 |
Wigan Athletic | ||
|
Birmingham City |
1-2 |
1-2 |
1-3 |
2-2 |
Portsmouth | ||
|
Bolton Wanderers |
1-3 |
0-2 |
0-4 |
0-3 |
Manchester United | ||
|
Derby County |
0-2 |
0-3 |
0-3 |
0-4 |
Chelsea | ||
|
Everton |
1-0 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
2-0 |
Sunderland | ||
|
Manchester City |
2-1 |
2-0 |
2-2 |
4-1 |
Reading | ||
|
Middlesbrough |
1-1 |
1-1 |
1-0 |
1-2 |
Aston Villa | ||
|
Newcastle United |
1-1 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
1-1 |
Liverpool | ||
|
Fulham |
2-2 |
1-2 |
2-2 |
2-1 |
Blackburn Rovers | ||
|
West Ham United |
2-3 |
1-1 |
3-3 |
1-1 |
Tottenham Hotspur | ||
|
Blackburn Rovers |
2-0 |
2-1 |
2-1 |
2-0 |
Aston Villa |
Make Your Changes
To make a change, login to the members area where you will see your table unlocked on the left and the current Premier League table on the right. Click on the first team you want to change (call it team A) and select the team you want it to swap places with (team B) and team A will appear where team B was. Do that twice more then click update and that’s your changes made for this week.
*** Once you click the update button there is no going back. If you make a change you can undo it by clicking the Revert Teams button, so long as it’s before you have done the final update.
** You do not have to make all of your changes at once.
The window will close again just before the next round of matches, so make sure you have made your changes by then. Changes are of course optional, you can make one, two, three or no changes if you choose.
And Finally..
That is it for this week’s FPL News. As there is an International break the Week 10 email will not be arriving in your inbox for another 16 days. I will try and send an update out next week, possibly with a few more predictions from those close to the top of the table and with any other news that is worth telling.
MyFootballClub.co.uk have today announced that they (well we, that’s me and the other 50,000 who have chipped in) will be buying Ebbsfleet United FC. I wish us all well with that. If this is news to you go to www.myfootballclub.co.uk, I think you can still be a part of it for just £35.00.
This newsletter is also available online at the FPL blog: http://thefootballpredictionleague.wordpress.com
And finally, what is the difference between Jose Mourinho and God? God doesn’t think he’s Jose Mourinho..
Good luck all
Nick
Nick Abear
The Predictor
FPL Admin
nick@fpl.org.uk
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